England draw USA, Algeria and Slovenia

Good draw for England!

Although I have to say that all teams in the group are capable of springing an upset.

But if England cant win this group, then no-one should expect them to get very far.

Had a feeling we’d draw the US and have to say I’m really happy about it. Great game to kick off our campaign.

ENGLAND SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!! USA USA USA ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!

Algeria springing an upset?You must be crazy.As for above poster…better to say nothing,go watch baseball.

Hi Riprock … A little research about algeria an a look at previous world cups show that Algeria springing an upset is not very far-fetched. Algeria plays possession type football that could frustrate a. If Englnd is having a bad day and Algeria is having an exceptionally good one it could Happen ! One lucky gol could turn any game around. Lucky you have Capello.

England will win this group easily. And then not much more. They haven’t got all their PL international players, only English.

Riprock: That’s the exact attitude (particularly England) that always does big teams with aspirations to win in. England will likely go through but be wary of African sides – they’re technically solid and some are physically punishing.

I’m not saying England are going to go all the way.Past competitions over the years have drained my optimism although I do believe it’s not impossible.England are more organised since Capello arrived and we have some talented players,no doubt.I’m just saying that people here are pleased with that group as we have avoided France,Portugal and some of the stronger sides.To tell you the truth I know nothing about Algeria(Sossef-I’m sorry but i don’t know what Algeria have achieved in previous WC’s).The USA game is the most important because they are well organised and have that never say die attitude but i still think we will top the group.After that who knows.I agree SOME of the african sides are very good-i.e Ivory Coast,Cameroon,Ghana.Of course I would love to see England win it but my gut feeling says Spain.

i would love to draw france (don’t mean to be getting ahead of myself just speculating), i really think we could beat them and get into the semi finals! I would be totally happy with the semi finals, 3rd place maybe? that would be great.

i don’t mean to be dismissive of the USA, Ghana and the like, but when your country’s team is in the centre of a massive whirlwind of hype it’s hard not to.

I think 3rd place, if we avoid injuries and go into the tournament in good form is not out of the question given the draw. But anything can happen between now and then.

Good match for England against the US, they always played well against bigger teams.

Wait for Algeria, it will spring a surprise on all of you!

“I think in a really big match we could do it.” Is that because the English have a great history in winning the big games? Hahaha. That’s brilliant. I love British humor.

Come on England… Its time to repeat the year 1966.

This will not be a piece of cake like the english are thinking. First beat U.S.A then we’ll see. Algeria can be tough for the english…i assure you. Keep your head up british. Don’t be too cocky. Remember Titanic? Over confidence is not good.

One more thing…the english hasn’t done anything too since 1966 when they win @ home. I don’t have confidence in England at all. I don’t think they can pass the round of 16.

England should be qualified for the next round, but USA will be a serious problem for them… Algeria has so much heart too, look how they got here! It’s a brave team and I think it can do something good in this group…Slovenia kicked Russia out, there will be no lack of confidence for any of the teams in this group, but here is my guess:

-1: ENGLAND – 9 pts
-2: ALGERIA – 6 pts
-3: USA – 3 pts
-4: SLOVENIA – 0 pts

Strangely large Algerian contingent here. Pretty good group, teams that should make us work for the wins but not trip us up too badly. Only possible real disaster is if we just aren’t prepared for the first match and find ourselves losing to the US but I have more faith in Capello than that. I think the priority is to make sure we have a sorted formation and team (especially goalkeeper and strikers) by the end of the group stage.

England have a problem in the goalkeeping area and should really take a look at STEVE HARPER. He is doing fantastically well for Newcastle this season: only 10 goals conceded in 19 games played (compared to the 30 (!!) goals in 15 matches conceded by Robert Green)!! He looks as if he is the only English GK capable of match-winning performances (look at his performances against Sheffield United and Watford!!).Capello looked at Mancienne when he was at Wolves in the Championship and i don’t see why he shouldn’t try Harper in the friendly in march… England will NEVER win a World Cup without a great gk!!

True,we definately have a goalkeeper problem.I have no confidence in any of them to be honest.Calamity James has the experience but has always been a loose cannon.Robert Green and Ben Foster are not world class.Paul Robinson is totally out of the picture as he is rubbish(check his comedy antics against Liverpool today).Who else is there?Nobody.I would not bring in a keeper from the Championship as anyone can look good in that league.Looking good against Sheffield United and Watford is a bit different than playing in the premier league week in week out.At least I would prefer a keeper playing at the top level.

Obviously, england is the best team in this group. But I think that the second will be Algeria and even england has to care about them .
Slovenia and USA are good, they have been qulified for the world cup, but they ae not so important .

Australia:

Repeat the year 1966 ?

Don’t you know there aren’t any SOVIET refs around any more ?

@ Riprock : Don’t forget that Argentina are still calling up Jonas Gutierrez!!As far as Harper is concerned, in 2002 he made several appearances in the UEFA Champions League, most notably against Juventus. The match was played at St James’ Park and Harper managed to keep a clean sheet during a 1–0 win over the Italian champions. He has a great experience and is surely the only English GK that (almost) never makes errors in matches!!

no you can never call a goalkeeper playing in the championship for a world cup !

You English you think red carpet in front of you. You are wrong. We collapse Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia. With YOU we played a friendly match at Wembley stadium. Not much letting us win at home And yet with help of an referee. SLOVENIA is a small country with a big heart. FOR AMERICAN: We will broken you do not know where have head.
from Slovenia

don’t underestimate algeria !

HEROES LIVE FOREVER, MAKE OUR NATION PROUD,
WEAR THE SHIRT WITH PRIDE,
AND WE’LL SING OUR ANTHEM LOUD

SEPPING OUT ON HALLOWED TURF,
FIGHTING HARD FOR ALL IM WORTH,
FOR THE SHIRT I WEAR I WEAR ACROSS MY CHEST
HEART AND SOUL I GIVE MY BEST
FOR THIS MY DEAR IS ENGLAND
YES THIS MY DEAR IS ENGLAND

PASSION, PRIDE IS HOW W’ERE MADE,
MARCHING ON OUR OWN PARADE,
AND UNDER THE CROSS OF GEORGE W’ELL MAKE OUR STAND
SUPPORT THE TEAM, FULFILL THE DREAM
BRING GLORY HOME TO ENGLAND
TO THIS MY DEAREST ENGLAND

Robert:

Allow me two questions:

1. What kind of activity is “SEPPING” ?
2. How many have you had ?

berliner…..its the anal activity of reading text looking for mistakes and commenting my dear fellow

IF YOU TAKE A MOMENT TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO SOMEHOW I THINK IT WAS DIRECTED PERFECTLY FOR YOU….LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS….
BEST WISHES
RG

algeria will be the big surprise of them all watch and onjoy

Robert:
I am sure you meant to say “analytic”.
And “its” is supposed to be “it’s” ))

my dear berliner,
thank you for your advice, it seems that you are far more educated in the anal department,
i wondered if you had managed to see the video?
if so you have remained quiet…..and i believe” it’s” is supposed to be” it is.”..i am being anal i appologise for that’
best
r

Dear Robert
I can tell you try hard but you are just a – errrmmm – somewhat handicapped communicator. I dare propose this even though we are conversing in y o u r native tongue whereas mine is German.

I have a gut feeling you wanted to be friendly, somehow. I accept that and would gladly return it. Some teasing has got to be and it is not the same as aggressiveness. We have a proverb saying: ‘Whoever teases each other likes each other.’

Yet as to the video I cannot but be honest: It is UTTER NATONALIST TRASH.
KITSCH POETRY. 5 kilos of bad utter-sweet chocolate. Sorry.

Most Germans have an almost automatic aversion to nationalism. We have learned our lesson (most of us, not all, sadly) – and you know why.
Best wishes, B.

dear b.
we communicate in the language of the sea and the air,

the video is far from nationalistic, it appears to be having the desired effect, the irony is that we always loose penalty shootouts…..not this time

i agree with your old proverb

best wihes
rg

Dear Robert,

with my limited (not native English) antenna I receive your latest message as a mixed bag. Greedily I go for the goodie, i. e. your agreeing with the proverb.

Still: After some reflection I have got a hunch that in 2010 the English might indeed have a chance not to lose (NOT: loose) a penalty shootout.

Yet the reason for my conclusion is (most likely) different from yours:

It will n o t be due to their training in order to learn proper penalty
executions but on account of the fact that they will – towards quarter finals, I presume – simply be ushered out of the contest in a regular fashion – by whichever squad.

In any case, should Germany and England meet, I would pray for a match without a shootout. And may the better – not the luckier -team win.
Best wishes and season’s greetings
B.

my dear b,
however i try to mislead you with my awful spelling i must admit i laughed out loud with your correction and thank you for that.
one would never wish to “loose” on penalties.

if england were to meet germany in the competition i believe it wont be untill towards the end of the competition.

if so lets hope the score reflects the result when we beat germany 5-1 !

i still reflect…….and smile….

a merry christmas to you

best wishes
rg

Dear Robert,

I am glad to see you happy.

Yet I am sorry to have to cast some shadow upon your glee: I think it is unlikely we will meet towards the end. You will have your cup (of tea, at home) while we go for the Cup.

5 : 1 is very unlikely indeed. 5 : 1 (which over here hardly anyone remembers) seems to be the only consolation you can think of in view
of the fact that we have been tremendously more successful than the
“3 Pussycats” in recent decades.

We have three ***, second only to Brazil and Italy. And counting 2nds and 3rds we are in second spot easily. Since 1954 – not being admitted earlier, for reasons I understand and accept – we have never failed to qualify.

No other nation except Brazil has such a record.

So we can easily grant you the repetition of “5:1″ for an indefinite number of occasions since we feel we owe you some consolation. Especially around Christmas time

Still I do hope you make it to the quarter finals and are able to bash Portugal (which we punished both in WC 06 and Euro 08).

Looking forward to more merry exchanges to come I wish you a merry Christmas, too.

Best wishes
B.
Posted from Germany

I have tickets for all the England games. Anyone Looking??
Send me your details…

Tony:

All 3 of tem ?

dear b,
you must tell me when the beerfest in berlin is……i fear you may be buying me a pint in celebration of our sucsess !

i of course will help you drown your sorrows !

best wishes

rg

Don’t get ahead of yourselves england. A fired up Landon Donovan will take care of prissy beckham. Oh and we have 3 keepers you Brits would kill for

prediction. USA 1 England 0

History repeats itself

For British fans:

Germans often suck against teams from Balkans (former Yugos and Croats to name a few). What does it have to do with England? Imagine: Serbia beat Germany in their group, draw with Ghana and kill off Aussies. Not an unlikely scenario, eh? Meaning Germany meet England in the 1/8 final, a variation hardly any British fan is considering.

What would it mean for England? Pretty much the end of tournament. Player quality is about the same but organisation, confidence based on their historical record and ability to make their team more than just a sum of good players would give Germany a clear advantage. Apart from Capello’s experience I cannot think of any advantages for British.

Even if England face Serbia or Ghana I would rate the chances as 50/50.

So when British media and fans indulge into protracted discussions about whom they will beat in quarterfinals and how the only serious opposition would wait for them only in semis it sounds quite ridiculous.

As of group stage, some British fans fall into another extreme. England should not encounter any problems there. Yanks might get a point from the game vs UK but winning it? No one takes them for granted anymore (the last was Spain in Confederation Cup) so they will find it hard against England.

Algeria would concentrate on beating USA, the source of all evil in the Muslim world, as their ’sacred’ mission and also seek to beat Slovenia as a softer target. England would be in danger only if England allows it to happen.

Unless some hard-to-explain cock-up happens, British should be safe against the rest of the group. However cock-ups of such dimension cannot be predicted and should not even feature in a reasonable analysis.

Slovenians, to judge by Slovenian’s post, are suffering from massive delusion about their chances after beating Russians and Czechs. It’s true that Slovenia were playing with heart against Russians. Russians meanwhile played with hangover because they looked down at Slovenia as a mere nuisance on their glorious way to the WC and boozed all night long before both knock-out games. It was investigated and it is a proven fact now. Czechs are suffered from generational change and were led by a 110-year old coach and a goalkeeper with a steel plate and massive self-doubt in his head. Anyone could beat them at that time, even Slovakia and Slovenia.

It’s OK to be proud of your achievement but everything should be seen in the right proportion. I see Slovenia as a small team packed by euphoria and delusional grandeur. We have seen it happening before and know how it ends: in tears.

End standings:
1. England (2 wins + 1 draw)
2. USA or Algeria (too close to call who will be the second and who the third)
3. See above
4. Slovenia (2 losses + 1 draw)

One more thing: England do not have goalkeeping problem. They have Joe Hart, a brilliant young keeper who currently does miracles for his team against sternest opposition. He is a head above any so called first choices. So which one would you chose, a young and brilliant one who is yet unproven at the world stage or an old (in both senses) one who has proven that he is c**p?